The storage of these rail cars is a small industry that is growing out of the recession. Several rail companies with far less to transport have decided to park their cars under the roof of the commerce center, which was once Bethlehem Steel's rail terminal. It's a cheap way for companies to sideline some of their unused cars, said Patrick Sabatino, the manager of Lehigh Valley Rail Management, which owns the BethIntermodal rail company.

"They're storing cars to make a couple of bucks and keep the mortgage and keep the lights on," he said.

The sight of idled rail cars is a good illustration of the Lehigh Valley's distribution industry. Trucking companies and other transporters see a sharp decline in business and hope to stay afloat through more aggressive competition and finding new businesses.

The Lehigh Valley has long been a hub for warehousing and distribution, given its proximity to Philadelphia and New York City and boasting cheaper labor costs than either city. Nearly 400 companies operate distribution centers in the area, according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. But the recession has meant that far fewer companies need to transport things, and that hurts the truck, rail and air freight services in the area.

Warehousing has suffered an even worse blow, as businesses now tend to wait for customer demand before stocking their shelves or filling orders. Then, they place an expedited order, one that goes right from the factory to the store and spends no time in storage, said Rick Sauers, the owner of E.T.I., a regional carrier based in Allentown that provides truck and warehouse services.

E.T.I. was founded on those so-called "hot-shot" deliveries. And that helped it weather past downturns, Sauers said. But in the past year, even the expedited deliveries have fallen off.

"The recession has kind of shrunk the pie," he said. "I think there's going to be a lot of carriers out there who are going to be fiercely competitive to get what freight's left."

Sauers said he's getting more competitive by cutting some of his charges for hauling and other services. He estimates that his fees have been cut between 3 percent and 5 percent across the board.

Tom Fiorini of Westgate Logistics said he is responding to the recession by reinvesting in customer service.

At its essence, distribution is a customer-service industry, Fiorini said. Customers need their inventory or their supplies at a certain place as soon as possible. Westgate tries to keep them happy by providing customers online tracking of their shipments. Westgate also installed a new computer server to help its Web site run faster, Fiorini said.

"We'll do whatever we have to do to keep our customers working with us," said Fiorini, who has moved products made by local businesses, such as Crayola and the Capitol Records distribution center in Bethlehem, which closed in the 1980s. It also helped Mack Trucks relocate some of its operation to North Carolina. "This is a down economy, but we've survived other down economies."

Westgate was founded in 1981. Like E.T.I., it started out as an expedited delivery service, with a driver picking up a package and delivering directly to the recipient. Over the years, Westgate grew as a broker for trucking companies, finding haulers for companies. Westgate's best year was 2007. Last year, business was off by about 10 percent, Fiorini said.

Most transportation workers take comfort knowing that their business hasn't completely dried up. Although orders for consumer electronics, building materials, chemicals and machinery have fallen off, they are still making regular runs of food, paper products and other essentials.

"It may not be sirloin steak, but you're still eating hamburger," Sauers said.

When the economy tightens, customers pay closer attention to shipping costs. This makes people start to look to rail or a combination of rail and trucking, called intermodal transportation. Rail can carry shipments over much greater distances for less, but trucks can get it there in less than half the time, Fiorini said.

An economic downturn can also bring in some business for logistics companies. They are often contracted to help companies break down warehouses or ship back machinery from shuttered factories. Fiorini said that he has had to get payment in advance from these companies, because he was not sure how much longer they would remain in business.

Falling gas prices have also provided some relief for logistics companies. But Fiorini, Sauers and Sabatino all say they expect fuel prices to rise again -- and when they do, they expect the transportation industry to change dramatically.

When gas is cheap, most companies can deliver their products to just about all of America using no more than five distribution centers strategically located, Sabatino said. But if gas prices climb above $3 or $4 a gallon again, companies will discover that they need more distribution centers, because delivery routes of several thousand miles will become too expensive.

"They went back to the drawing board and discovered we need eight distribution centers to serve the country," he said.

This means that Lehigh Valley distributors might receive less to ship out.

While companies plan for a resurgence in gas prices, no one expects the economy to recover anytime soon.

A few months ago, Sauers would have guessed that things would pick back up by the end of this summer. Now, he thinks the recovery won't come until sometime in 2010.

Sabatino recommends that even people who don't depend on transportation should keep an eye on his industry. Transportation is a leading indicator for the rest of the economy, he said.

"When you see us pick up, hopefully that's a signal that the rest of the economy isn't too far behind."